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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

The Arkansas History Commission and State Archives and the
North Little Rock History Commission will be hosting a symposium on Saturday,
August 29, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Patrick Henry Hays Senior Center,
401 West Pershing Boulevard, North Little Rock.

The theme of the symposium, “The Great War: Service on All
Fronts,” will feature presenters Bryan McGraw, Access Coordinator at the
National Archives, St. Louis & Midwest region, Sandra Taylor Smith,
Director of the North Little Rock History Commission,Cary Bradburn, NLR History Commission
Historian, author Elizabeth Hill, and Arkansas History Commission Archival
Assistant Amanda L. Paige.

Topics will include, The
Personnel Records at the National Archives in St. Louis, Fort Roots and Camp Pike in World War I,
Arkansas’s Women and the Great War, and World War I Records at the Arkansas History
Commission.

The event will also feature a scanning booth.Participants are invited to bring in material
pertaining to Arkansas during World War I for digitization.An AHC archivist will scan and save to CDs
copies of scanned material for the participants, who will be asked to share the
digital copies with the Arkansas History Commission and North Little Rock
History Commission for research, exhibits and publication.

The symposium is free and lunch will be provided. Teachers
can earn up to four professional development hours through attendance.
Registration is limited.The deadline
for registration will be Monday, August 24, so be sure to register soon.
Check-in for registration will begin at 9:15 a.m.

The Arkansas History Commission and State Archives, located
in Little Rock, is the official state archives of Arkansas and maintains the
largest collection of historical materials on Arkansas in the world. The North
Little Rock History Commission’s mission is to collect, keep, and care for
materials pertaining to the history of North Little Rock.

Frederick Kramer was born in Halle, Prussia, December 29, 1829. He
emigrated to the United States in 1848. Kramer enlisted in the United
States Army and served in the Seventh Infantry until his discharge at
Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, in July 1857. After his discharge, Kramer
settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, and became a citizen in 1859. He
married Adaline Margaret Reichardt, an emigrant from Germany, in 1857.
They had six children Louisa, Mattie, Emma, Charles, Fred, and Henry.
Frederick Kramer became a civic leader in Little Rock, serving as the
first president of the Little Rock School Board of Directors beginning
in 1869. He served as Little Rock Mayor, 1873-1875, and 1881-1887. For a
time he was a partner with F.A. Sarasin in the mercantile business and
later became the president of the Bank of Commerce. Kramer traveled with
his wife and daughter Emma to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the summer
of 1896 to recuperate from an illness. He died there on September 8,
1896.

Charles Kramer married Adelia Bender on October 13, 1888.
They had two daughters, Sadie and Norma. Kramer followed in his father’s
footsteps as a civic and business leader in Arkansas. He was an ice
manufacturer and served as president of the National Grocers
Association. He was a volunteer with Little Rock’s first volunteer fire
department and was President of Oakland Cemetery. Charles Kramer died in
Little Rock on May 29, 1938.

This collection contains business
and family papers of Frederick Kramer and his son Charles. Frederick
Kramer's papers include naturalization papers, letters, deeds,
commissions, and letters. Charles Kramer's papers include school
records, letters, and articles.

1879 November 28: Little Rock Public High School report card, Charles John Kramer, junior year

1880 December: Monthly report card, Charles John Kramer

1881:
"We the undersigned do hereby agree to pay the amount set opposite our
names, for the purpose of giving a reception to the graduates of Sherman
High School of 1881," Charles John Kramer, executive committee

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

The June/July 2015 issue of the Arkansas Archivist is out! Below are some of the highlights from the last two months. To read the full newsletter, please click here: June/July 2015 Issue

AHC Staff Hits the Road
this Summer to Visit Educational Co-ops

Arkansas
History Commission staff members Brian Irby and Danyelle McNeill have been
touring the state this summer, visiting educational co-operatives in
conjunction with a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council to create lesson
plans from the Commission’s vast collection of primary source materials. Since
summer 2013, a group of Arkansas History Commission staff have been working on
creating lesson plans. The initiative was launched by Dr. Lisa Speer
during her first year as director.

The AHC Presents the
Charles Yearger Collection

We are lucky to have a wide
range of different types of items in our collection. Recently, Charles A.
Yaerger donated an interesting collection of materials from Cummins Prison to
the AHC. Yaerger was a chaplain at the Cummins Unit from 1972 to
1980. One day in the 1970s, Yaerger was walking down the hall and noticed
some prison trustees cleaning out a room. They were throwing away documents
and photographs, of which Yaerger was able to save some of the most interesting
items.

Strolling Down Main Street Arkansas

Over the last year, the AHC has added much new content to our Arkansas Digital
Ark-ives, including collections pertaining to Arkansas women and ethnic groups,
World War I, as well as lesson plans and topical collection guides. This
month we add a collection devoted to “Main

Street, Arkansas,” created by
Archival Technician Darren Bell.

Black History Commission News

A few months ago we told you about a project funded through the Curtis Sykes
Memorial Grant Program where the South Sebastian County Historical Society was
cleaning the Norwood Family Cemetery, an African American cemetery in
Greenwood, Arkansas. We are

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

After
World War I, Mrs. Ira C. Hopper conceived the idea of organizing a club
for military wives, especially those at Camp Pike, Pulaski County,
Arkansas. Women established the group in 1923 to support patriotic goals
and to teach the proper observance of patriotic holidays. The
membership was limited to mothers, widows, wives, daughters, and sisters
of present or former commissioned officers (including female) of the
uniformed defense forces of the United States of America. The Army and
Navy Woman's Club presented copies of "Code of Ethics of Our Flag" to
fifth grade students in the Little Rock and North Little Rock, Arkansas,
schools. The club supported veterans in the hospital and needy veterans
at home with food, clothing, and toys, particularly at Thanksgiving and
Christmas. The organization disbanded in 1981.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Robert James Lea was born March 10, 1852, at
Princeton, Arkansas. He was the son of George Gallatin Lea and Sarah
Eliza Wright. Robert studied law at the University of Virginia and
returned to Arkansas to practice law by 1876. He married Georgie
Passmore of Hot Springs on September 29, 1882. They lived in Little
Rock, where he practiced law and served as Circuit Court Judge until his
death in 1890. Robert and Georgie Lea had a daughter, Wilhelmina Lea.

This
collection contains correspondence, land records, tax receipts, and
other documents concerning land owned by Robert J. and Georgie Passmore
Lea.